Africa: Secretary Pompeo Announces Latest Lifesaving PEPFAR Results

Today, in advance of World AIDS Day 2018, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo announced the latest results achieved by American leadership and partnerships through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which has now saved more than 17 million lives.

As of September 30, 2018, PEPFAR is supporting over 14.6 million people on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, including over 700,000 children. This is compared with the 50,000 people who were on HIV treatment in Africa when PEPFAR began in 2003. PEPFAR has also enabled over 2.4 million babies to be born HIV-free to mothers living with HIV and supported over 6.8 million orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers.

Additional PEPFAR data reveal that Ethiopia is on the verge of achieving HIV epidemic control and that Nigeria may be closer to achieving HIV epidemic control than was previously thought, with the majority of Nigerians who report being on HIV treatment having suppressed their viral replication, allowing them to thrive and not transmit the virus.

This progress builds on that highlighted in the 2018 PEPFAR Strategy Progress Report released in September, which shows that up to 13 high-HIV-burden countries are now on pace to control their HIV epidemic by 2020 through the support of the U.S. government and the contributions of other partners. That report also highlighted that many more of the 53 countries globally that are supported by PEPFAR could achieve epidemic control by 2020 by focusing their resources and policies to ensure access to HIV prevention and treatment services for those most in need.

A new PEPFAR report released today highlights that, in the past year, new HIV diagnoses among adolescent girls and young women continued to decline in 85 percent of the highest HIV burden communities/districts that are implementing the program’s DREAMS public-private partnership. In addition, eight of the DREAMS-supported districts that had less than a 25 percent decline of new HIV diagnoses among adolescent girls and young women in 2017 had a greater than 25 percent decline in 2018 – showing marked success. These reductions are particularly critical as, in 2017, three in four new infections in sub-Saharan Africa occurred among girls ages 15-19.

The United States remains the largest donor to the global HIV response, investing resources provided through the generosity of the American people with accountability, transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness.

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